More than half of tax agents miss EOT filing arrangements

Tax agents risk losing their extension of time (EOT) filing arrangements with around half not filing on time for the last two years.

Tax agents have an extended amount of time to file clients' income tax returns with standard targets for the percentage of returns that must be filed.

According to Inland Revenue 56% met the EOT filing agreement in 2008 and last year 2,485 agents out of 5,605 agents (44%) met EOT filing arrangements of returns reaching 60% filing as at 13 November 2009.

An Inland Revenue spokesperson says filing percentages may have been impacted by the economic climate.

If an agent files less than the target for two years in a row, they may lose their EOT filing arrangement for all their client's returns.

In the year to December 2009 seven tax agents had their EOT agreements withdrawn.

Inland Revenue says in its Compliance Focus report for 2010, it will be making improvements in this area by advancing changes as a result of reviewing the EOT agreement in 2008-09 and by enhancing e-services to include more self-service options, for example, client maintenance and to look at account information.

It will also be enhancing its understanding of the environment tax agents operate in and looking at opportunities to increase compliance through research and direct interaction.

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